Actuating mechanism



Feb. 3, 1948, R -r 25%35339 ACTUATING MECHANI SM Filed April 6, 1946 F865. HG. Fly}. 7 [Mm/TOR moms L4. 81216172 Patented Feb. 3, 1948 AGTUATING LIECHANISM Th'om'asiblin Robert;Bi-igh' t; Allesley; near O'oventry; England- Apnlipation-eAprilrfi, 1946;-- Scrial Nor-660,181: In'Grea-t Britain February 14, 1945 section l', Pi'lblic Law 690; August8'; 1946" (Ola-743F29 7-.Claims. 1:,

This invention relates to an actuating mechae nism-forf'a' S1idab1'eil7iIiHd0W,fiIU0f3 orythe like,-yand, althouglr'not ilimite-d fin rthiszrespect, it-zisz articu.-= larlyrapplicable;tosmmechanismtfory actuating a vertioally slid'able window of arymotorevehicle or the like, i; .e'., where'space; for thezmeohanism is strictly limited;

An -important:obj ectziof sthBfil'll/EhliiOIl'iS to pro? vide an'iinexpensiverconstructiom of: complactedee sign.

A further ObjECtT-iSFtOiIDIOF/idfi?I01;a motor-veihicle window, an actuating'imechanism;incorporatin an. irreversible meansswhichawill;give instantaneouse and:positiveloeking.= of; the window in any position;-to;which3it.is:moved by'thei-actuating mechanism, .and instantaneous;release'and movement of the window whentheactuating mechanism is roperatede-asopposed ,to the usual mechanisms incorporating aeclutcmwhich :neces= sitates a certain' amount fefree movement oflthe operating handle, before the? window: can be moved.

By irreversiblemeansf' Ii'meanthatthe lac-tuating mechanismcan efiectlmovement of the win-l dow in either direction,=bi1tthe window cannot be moved except by.the.actuating.mechanism.

A'fiirther bjectisa compact design withfwhieh' alternative positions. for an. operating. knob. or otherv handle. can be. providediin, a; very, simple manner,

A still further objectls acompactdesign with which selection cant be, made. in a. very, simple manner fortlie actuation; of the windowrby, wind ing or, alternatively byr quick -act-ing means as desired;

Astill' further object is a comp act; design which can be readily, adapted, astrequlred} forlopera-l tion by a sli dable knob,..a=s rotatable handle, or a push-pull mechanism-,or electrically, hydraulically, orbyrcompressedain- The actuating. mechanismr of the. invention broadly. consists .in atflleastuone, pivotally, mounted armto shiftthe windw-or the like, a..sli'da'bl flat bar or other member connectedwith thearm (as by having teeth'to engagefteeth, fast with the armiandiconcentriciwith itsjipivotedfaxi's)" to turn the arm' about its"axis; thereby to shift? the window or' the like, whenithesaid member isslid; a secondmemb'er; forexamplf;a flat platey slid able in a plane' arallel to; andin a difierent direction from; that-of th'erfirst member; and a pin and-slot' connection between the two members providing an irreversibleconnection bywhich the second member can slidethe first.

Preferably, the pin-and-slot conneotin includes ai proj ection onth efirst member and a slot in the: second member 'inelined" to-th'e direction oiiiriovement thereof at a requisite angle; Pief erablyi to'o, -useis madeo-I a pair-of base plat'es securedi in? spaced relatiomto be parallel to (the planes of movement of the slidablemembers and to enclose-wthem' and: part of the arm and its connection to theafirstf of the members; eacl1 =base plate-havinggmeans serving as'a: guide forl on'e'of the-:sa'id members;

In: the? accompanying drawings- Figure; 1 isb: at side elevation 1 of an actuating mechanism; according;toeameinventionr f orawer ticallyi-sli'dablewwindovw'of: a motorl vehicle Figure ariszan elevation?" thereofltakem from theleftr Figure? 3. is; a:view;.from' the insidegilof one: of the basei lates -whichssleidinglyiguides theesecond of said: members; the latter: bein'gxshownt in the form; ofra-fiat plate;

Figure-1'4 is a;view;aalso .from the'insideeoi the other-- base' plate :which-aslidingly guidesithe first ofu-thesa-id members and-upon which tIIe saidLax-m isipivoted Figures p 5 and? (i. are. side" and: end-:- elevations; respectively; to asmallensca*le;'showing;an alternative means ;connectingethe said ,=arm to'sthe first of the slidablemembers Figure: 7. illustrates hove the: secondaslidable member may be servo actuatediinsteadmfzmam ually; and

Figure 8 shows two :other forms; of actuating means;-

In: carryingv out the:- invention; 8,51 applied: to a sliding, window, for a; -motor'vehicle,:, which; is notlproperlyi guided when-in-- the open position by the stationary: window frame; (as -in the case of a sliding window inan ordinaryfronto door ofa motor-vehicle) there isi-a fixed base plate, such as. that marked 1 2,\to-be-secured directly or indirectly to a. stationary portion ot the -vehi ole, for example, to. the fronttdoor,landlgivotally mounted upon this plate areiwawindow-shiftringarn'is provided at their. free i ends. with rollers or" the like to engage a. channel f ormedL on". the

underside. ofthe frame ofthersl'idingv window.

Inthe closed position-ofthelatter. the arms ex?- t'end"upwardly, usuallyforming an acute angle In the drawings only one, l3, of the arms is shown, being pivoted at M on the base plate l2. A second arm, when required, can be formed integrally with the toothed wheel l5 which is pivoted at It on the base plate [2. The pivotallymounted end of the arm l3 has teeth I! concentrio with its pivot l4 provided directly thereon, or, of course, the arm may be fast with a separate pinion or toothed quadrant. of the respective pivots l4 and [6 (Figure 4) from one another is such that the teeth can be engaged by teeth on said first-mentioned slidable member shown in the form of a double rack [8;

which extends between them and which may be guided for movement in a vertical direction by strips 20.

The spring bias which is usually provided may be by means of a spiral spring (not shown) associated with the pivotal mounting of the arm, or of both arms when provided. The springs may be anchored at one end to the associated base plate in any convenient manner, and their other ends may be hooked to engage round lugs pressed up fromthe arms. Alternatively, the spring bias may be provided to act upon either of the said slidable members.

In a modification of this arrangement one of the arms aforesaid is omitted and any appro- The spacing V 4 the member to engagea rotatable actuating pinion 33 which is journalled in the base plate 23 and carries an actuating handle 34. The arrangement may be such that several revolutions of the pinion will ,be necessary to move the window fully along the length of its travel or, alternatively, so that less than one revolution will be sufficient fully to traverse the window.

Alternatively, as shown by Figure 8, I may provide two parallel lines of rack teeth 32a-32b to be fast with the said member 23 and inthis case I can selectively provide two different-sized pinions to coact with the rack teeth respectively, 7 making appropriate provision for the pivotal mounting of the pinions from the fixed plate 25. Thus, with the same mechanism, with one of the pinions 33a I can offer a quick-acting mechpriate means is provided for guiding the edge of the first slidable member [8 (which need not now be toothed on this edge) remote from the teeth of the remaining armfor example, as actually shown. In this case, a link can be pivotally mounted upon the base plate l2 to move parallel to the toothed arm, the latter and the link supporting the tail of a T-shaped bracket the upper part of which carries rollers or the like to engage the channel of the sliding window frame.

It will be understood that, in the case of a sliding window which is properly supported by the stationary window frame along the whole length of. its movement, a single shifting arm directly engaging the channel or the like on the sliding window frame will be sufficient, two shifting arms, or the T-shaped bracket arrangement, being required when the sliding window has to be supported in the lowered position against tilting in its plane. The illustrated actuating mech anism is, in fact, one for a window which is at all times fully supported.

For operating a pair of shifting arms or a single shifting arm as aforesaid, I provide the aforesaid second member 23 to slide substantially at rightangles to the rack, the member 23 being a flat plate guided by strips 24 in the other base plate 25 and having a slot 26 in it at'an appropriate inclination to the direction of movement of the rack so that movement of the member 23 will effect movement of the rack by means of a roller or other projection 21 carried by the rack and engaged by the slot 26, but so that therack l8 cannot be moved to move the member 23. The two base plates [2 and 25 are held in spaced relation to enclose the parts as'shown by means of washers and screws 28 or the like.

Themember 23 may be provided with a handle (not shown) by means of which it can be manually slid to-and-fro to open orclose the sliding window or, alternatively, it maybe remotelycontrolled as by means of pneumatic or hydraulic devices, or, of course, by solenoids 30, 3| as shown by Figure 7, which act on opposite ends and are selectively energizable. As another alternative rack teeth 32 (Figures 1 to l) may be fast with member slidable in a plane parallel to, and ma anism, and with the other 33b a winding mechanism, as required. Or I can easily convert one to the other, by the substitution of one pinion when the window is half-way down, as shown by Figures 1 to l, and in these conditions the projection 21 is approximately half-way along the slot in the said member 23. r r

7 By providing rack'teeth directly on the latter, when it is-to be operated by a pinion', the mechanism can be made to be very compact.

In themodification of Figures '5 and 6 the window-shifting arm [3a has a pin-and-slot connection with the vertically slidable member [8.

'Thus the latter has projections on its opposite faces, one '27 for engagement with the slot 26 of the slidable member 23, and the other 36 for engagernent with the slot 31 of the arm I3.

What I claim as my'invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: 1. Actuating mechanism, for a slidable part such as a window of a motor-car, including a pair of base plates, means holding said base plates in spaced superposed relation, atleast one pivotallymounted arm toshift said part, a slidable mem ber operatively connected with said arm to turn the latter about its pivotal axis, thereby to shift said part, when saidmember is slid, a second members being disposed between said plates and being respectively guided thereby, and a pin-andslot connection between said members providing an irreversible connection by which said second member can slide said first;

2. Actuating mechanism, fora slidable frame such as that of a window of a motorcar, including a base plate, an arm pivotally mounted on saidbase plate to shift said frame, a slidablemember operatively connected with said arm to turn the latter about its pivotal axis,.thereby to shift said frame, when saidv member is slid, a second member slidable in a plane parallel to, and in a different direction from, that of the first, and a pin-and-slotconnection between said two members, including a projection carried by said'first member and engaged with a-slot in said second member, providing an irreversible connection by which said secondmember can slide saidfirfst.--

3. Actuating mechanism, for a slidable window, including a pair of base plates held in spaced superposed relation, at least one arm pivoted on one of said base plates to shift said window, a vertically slidable member guided by said one base plate and operatively connected with said arm to turn the latter about its pivotal axis, thereby to shift said window, when said member is slid, a second member in the form of a fiat plate slidable in a plane parallel to that of the first member and in a horizontal direction, said second member being guided by the other of said base plates, and a projection carried by said first member and engaged with a slot in said second member, said slot being inclined at an angle relatively to the direction of movement of said first member such as to provide an irreversible connection by which said second member can slide said first member, both said members being disposed between said base plates.

4. Actuating mechanism, for a slidable frame, including a base plate, at least one arm pivotally mounted on said base plate to shift said frame, teeth fast with said arm and concentric with its pivotal axis, a slidably-mounted toothed member engaged with said teeth, a second member slidable in a plane parallel to that of the first and in a direction transverse thereto, and a projection on said first member engaged with an inclined slot in said second member, the inclination being such as to provide an irreversible connection whereby said second member can slide the first to shift said frame.

5. Actuating mechanism, for a slidable frame, including a base plate, at least one arm pivotally mounted on said base plate to shift said frame, teeth fast with said arm and concentric with its pivotal axis, a slidably-mounted toothed rack engaged with said teeth, a plate slidablein a plane parallel to thatof said rack and in a direction transverse thereto, a projection on said rack engaged with an inclined slot in said slidable plate, the inclination being such as to provide an irreversible connection whereby said slid- 6 able plate can slide said rack to shift said frame, and a toothed rotatable member engaged with rack teeth formed on said slidable plate to enable the latter to be slid on rotation of said toothed member.

6. Actuating mechanism, for a slidable frame,

'including a pair of base plates, means holding said base plates in spaced superposed relation, at least one arm pivotally mounted on one of said base plates to shift said frame, teeth fast with said arm and concentric with its pivotal axis, a toothed member slidably guided in said one base plate and engaged with said teeth, a second member slidable in a plane parallel to that of the first and in a direction transverse thereto, said second member being guided in the other of said base plates, both said members being disposed between said base plates, and a projection on said first member engaged with an inclined slot in said second member, the inclination being such as to provide an irreversible connection whereby said second member can slide the first to shift said frame.

7. Actuating mechanism, for a slidable part such as a window of a motor-car, including a base plate, at least one pivotally-mounted arm to shift said part, a slidable member operatively connected with said arm to turn the latter about its pivotal axis, thereby to shift said part, when said member is slid, a second member slidable in a plane parallel to, and in a different direction from, that of the first, and a pin-and-slot connection between said two members providing an irreversible connection by which said second member can slide said first.

THOMAS JOHN ROBERT BRIGHT.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Floraday et al Oct. 9, 1928 Number 

